Kyle Cody recorded his first major league victory for the Texas Rangers after allowing one run over five innings in a 7-2 win against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
Cody (1-1) allowed three hits, struck out five and didn't walk a batter in his fourth MLB start.
Texas (19-34) benefited from the long ball in the third game of the four-game series, getting home runs from Joey Gallo, Anderson Tejeda, Sam Huff, Rougned Odor and Derek Dietrich.
The Angels (23-31) entered the day 3 1/2 games back of the Houston Astros for second place in the AL West with eight games left, and the same distance behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the second wild card spot, but lost ground after both teams won on Sunday.
Angels starter Julio Teheran (0-4) lasted one inning, allowing three runs and two hits, both home runs. He didn't record a strike out and walked two as his ERA ballooned to 9.49 in his ninth appearance with the Angels since he was acquired last offseason.
Gallo hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead. Tejeda led off the second with a homer to make it 3-0.
After walking the next batter, Teheran was lifted following a long conversation on the mound with Angels manager Joe Maddon.
Justin Upton doubled with one out in the second for Los Angeles and scored on Taylor Ward's single to cut the lead to 3-1.
The Rangers got the run back in the third on Odor's two-out RBI double.
Huff blasted his first major league homer in the fourth to extend the lead to 5-1.
Cody, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound right-hander, needed 74 pitches to get through three innings in his last start on Tuesday against the Astros. He got through five innings on 61 pitches on Sunday before turning the game over to the bullpen.
The Angels scored a run on a groundout in the sixth to make it 5-2.
Odor and Dietrich hit solo homers in the eighth to stretch the lead back to 7-2.
--Field Level Media
